Eat, Drink, and Be Merry’s Fresh Family Recipes

In the current issue of Madeworthy, we have recipes from the two chefs we feature in our articles. Lanny Lancarte shared his fabulous beef skewers with a chipotle-cashew sauce, while Nathanael Gassett came up with a delicious vegan ceviche. We also have the very first recipe for a sweet potato pie, taken What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, the first cookbook written by a Black person. These recipes are wonderful for the holiday season, and we wish you and your loved ones joy as you enjoy!

Beef Skewers with Chipotle Cashew Sauce 

Lanny Lancarte shares an easy, healthy recipe for this holiday season. The subject of our cover story, Lancarte has brought the ghost kitchen concept to Fort Worth. This recipe can easily be scaled up for a party or just for a hungry family! 

Ingredients 

For the sauce 

1 cup hazelnut oil (Editor’s Note: you can substitute avocado oil, but the flavor will be different)
12 ounces unsalted cashews
2 to 4 chipotles in adobo, to taste
4 to 7 cloves roasted garlic
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
Juice of two limes
2 tablespoons salt plus more to taste
1 bunch chives, minced 

For the skewers 

1 pound skirt steak or tenderloin, cut into 2-ounce pieces 

Directions 

For the sauce 

Put the oil and cashews into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and set aside. Add the chipotles, chicken or vegetable broth, lime juice, and 2 tablespoons salt to the blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Return the cashew butter to the blender or food processor and blend with chile puree until fully incorporated. Put into a bowl and stir in most of the chives. Adjust seasoning as needed. 

For the skewers 

Thread the beef onto either soaked bamboo skewers or metal skewers. Don’t pack too much onto each skewer! Grill on a hot grill or in a hot skillet until all sides are seared brown. Season with salt and drape some of the sauce over before serving. This will serve 4 as an entrée.  

Sweet Potato Pie 

This recipe, referenced in Elisabeth Ivy’s article on page 12 of the current issue of Madeworthy, is the first published recipe for a sweet potato pie. It is perhaps scant on directions, but like all good recipes, it allows the cook to decide how to personalize it. So get creative and experiment! I promise that you’ll be pleased with the results.

(The recipe is reproduced here as it appears in the cookbook.)

“Two pounds of potatoes will make two pies. Boil the potatoes soft; peel and mash fine through a cullender [sic] while hot; one tablespoonful of butter to be mashed in with the potato. Take five eggs and beat the yelks [sic] and whites separate and add one gill of milk; sweeten to taste; squeeze the juice of one orange, and grate one-half of the peel into the liquid. One half teaspoonful of salt in the potatoes. Have only one crust and that at the bottom of the plate. Bake quickly.”

Vegan Ceviche 

A good host will want to have options for all their guests. (Okay, that sounds like something straight out of Miss Manners!) This is a great appetizer for holiday parties, courtesy of Wero Kitchen’s Nathanael Gassett. It’s delicious and healthy, and it will please the palates of vegans and carnivores alike! 

Ingredients 

½ cup fresh lime juice
1 fresh coconut
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 summer squash (calabaza, yellow, or zucchini may be used), diced
2 Roma tomatoes, halved, seeded, and thinly sliced
3 to 5 fresh tomatillos, husks removed, halved and thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, cut into thirds
¼ of a large red onion, thinly sliced
Cilantro leaves
1 avocado, sliced
1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced into rounds
Tortilla chips or tostadas to serve 

Directions 

To prepare the fresh coconut: Using a screwdriver and hammer, carefully create a small hole in one of the “eyes” of the coconut and drain all the water into a bowl. Set the coconut water aside. Wrap the coconut in a kitchen towel and, using the hammer, break the coconut into smaller pieces. Use the back of a knife blade to separate the meat from the shell. Remove the hard brown layer from the white coconut meat with a vegetable peeler. Cut into thin slices and set aside.  

Mix the fresh lime juice with ½ cup of the reserved coconut water, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 2 cloves of garlic. Set aside. 

Combine the squash, tomatoes, tomatillos, and red onion with the coconut. Using a vegetable peeler, make long shavings of celery and combine those with the vegetables. Toss with the lime and coconut water mixture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes or up to overnight.  

To serve, slice the avocado and arrange on tostadas or on a serving plate. Add the ceviche and top with cilantro leaves and thin rings of serrano pepper. This serves 4 to 6 as an appetizer.